When you are looking for a job, your resume is one of your most important tools. It’s your ticket to an interview, where you can elaborate on your skills and show exactly what you can bring to the table. Unfortunately, many resumes are lackluster at best — and at worst, can actually hurt your chances of getting a callback. On average, recruiters spend about six seconds looking at a resume. If you don’t grab their attention in that time, it goes in the trash — along with your chances of landing that job.
Because you have such a short time to make an impression, and it can be challenging to highlight your best, most relevant skills in a limited amount of space, most career counselors recommend that jobseekers work with an executive resume writing service to create and polish their resumes. Even just having the document reviewed and edited by a practiced eye can make a major difference in the success of your job search efforts. That being said, even if you think you have a decent resume, there are five situations in which you absolutely must get professional help.
You Aren’t a Writer
Not everyone has a gift for the written word. The number of failed novelists and questionable social media posts is testament to that. However, while most professionals are able to string together a decent sentence and get their point across, not everyone can word things in such a way that a recruiter can’t help but call them. And even if you do capture your essence and explain your achievements in a compelling manner, if your resume is riddled with grammatical errors and typos, it’s going in the trash. A professional can help polish your prose to present your experience in the best possible light, and do it without unfortunate errors — and without you getting frustrated.
You Have Issues
Ok, so we all have issues. But there are some career issues that don’t always translate well to a resume, such as major gaps in employment or getting fired. Or maybe you are just trying to make a major career move to a new industry, and you aren’t sure how to translate your experience to make it seem relevant. A professional resume writer isn’t a magician, and can’t change history, but they can help you present your experience in such a way that any weaknesses or flaws don’t overshadow your great qualities.
You’ve Had a Lot of Jobs
In one survey, 39 percent of recruiters said that the biggest obstacle to someone landing a job was that they have a history of job hopping. Typically, job hopping is defined as staying at a job for only a year (or less) before moving on to something else. If this happens once, it’s probably not a big deal; there are plenty of good reasons you might not stay in a job for a long time, such as a layoff or you were being harassed. However, if you repeatedly change jobs, and have worked for five different companies in as many years, recruiters aren’t likely to want to hire you. Again, while a professional resume writer can’t change your history, he or she can help you explain what happened and highlight other positive traits.
You Are Shy
If there was ever a time to toot your own horn, your resume is it. If you tend to downplay your achievements, though, or you’re reluctant to talk about certain things because you don’t want to “brag,” a professional writer can help you get over that. A professional will help identify your best achievements and highlight them so recruiters are impressed.
You Aren’t Getting Any Calls
The job market is tough, but if you are an accomplished professional who meets the qualifications for the jobs you’re applying to and you aren’t getting any bites, then your resume could be the issue. Remember: recruiters are only spending a few seconds looking at your resume, so if you aren’t highlighting the right information, they are passing you over. A resume writing service knows how to highlight the most relevant information so it gets noticed in that short time, and will help you get more calls.
Working with a resume professional is an investment in your career. If you haven’t updated your materials in a while, or you have some of the problems mentioned here, it’s likely to be an investment will easily pay for itself when you land a great job.
